Jack the Ripper's Streets of Terror: Life during the reign of Victorian London's most brutal killer

by Rupert Matthews

An exploration of the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of the Londoners who lived through it, including eye-witness accounts and inquest testimonies.

The shocking murders carried out by an unknown serial killer in London's East End in during the autumn of 1888 dominated the news and public imagination at the time and have continued to exert a baleful influence ever since. But what was it like to live through those terrifying weeks? No matter what precautions the locals took, the killings continued.

Featuring eye-witness accounts, photographs and documents of the time, this book looks at the crimes of Jack the Ripper and their impact on the people of Victorian London. It follows the way the crimes affected the local population, the rumours that swept the streets, the alarms, the riots, the persecutions, the suspicions and the sheer naked terror of the awful autumn when Jack the Ripper stalked the streets.

ABOUT THE SERIES : The True Criminals series provides gripping exposés on some of the most twisted criminals the world has ever seen. Augmented by chilling photographs, this series provides snapshots into the minds of these villains and their deadly acts.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Crime

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2013

Reviews

[Joe Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

More books have been written about Jack the Ripper than any other serial killer, but this one’s unique. Instead of just rehashing the facts of the case (although it does that too), the book spends more than half its length setting the stage for his arrival, going over the unique social, political, and economical changes that were happening in London, and Whitechapel in particular, during that time. The book is as much about why the killings happened as how, analyzing the perfect storm of circumstances that allowed Jack to emerge. Very interesting stuff if you share a fascination with both crime and history, as I do.

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new or monumental about this. Would be a good introduction for people who now nothing about Jack the Ripper but I already knew most of this so I found it pretty boring.

[Pterotaktyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the fact, that the author tried to be objective. Moreover, I appreciate the author's focus todescribe the atmosphere of that time besides the murders.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning for graphic descriptions of murder

I’m not normally one for historical books but I liked this more than I was expecting. This book was mostly a before during and after of jack the rippers killing spree and the affect he had in London with a small chapter at the end analyzing how the polices handled the investigations possible suspects. One of the only issues I had with the book was the way they dated events, for some reason they wrote the day before the month (example 12 august), this always gave me a pause as I’m not use to reading dates like this and had to stop and reread the first few times to make sure I had it right. The other issue was the medical terms used but no definition given, I was tempted to look up what they meant but as I warned at the top they were used to describe acts of violence so decided against it because I want to sleep tonight. Otherwise this was a very informative book that I didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to get through like with school history books. The author also included photos (nothing violent), portraits, and I believe newspaper clippings. Will defiantly read again

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good companion book for understanding the typical life and times of Victorian Londoners in the East End during the Ripper's murders. There are other books that are filled with more technical information such as police reports, coroners reports, newspaper articles, etc. But this book gives a good overview of all the murders, plus everyday life sort of things: working, living, raising children, how women were treated, women in the workforce, the police force. That sort of information really rounds out the era for me and gives me a good vision of how things were.

There are a lot of useful and interesting photos in here. Granted in this day and age you can just do google image searches, but it's nice to not have to put my book down to look things up on the internet while reading. I'm a visual learner so the images along with the text were great! This was a pretty easy read for me.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

a good introduction to the ripper murders, but very poorly written. unfortunately the author’s writing style reminds me of essays written by high schoolers; this may be a result of the book being an overview of the murders (and therefore only covering things briefly) but everything feels very shallow and choppy. i was also quite disappointed to see the author say “r*tarded” twice within the book. though i understand that the word was commonly used in the 19th century, there are other words that the author could have chosen that aren’t considered slurs in the 21st century. overall this book serves its purpose as being an introduction to the jack the ripper murders, but there are many better books out there that cover the same information and are much more worth reading.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good primer for anyone new to Ripperology." No revelations here but that is to be expected with a limited amount of facts available. For anyone really intrigued I would suggest
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. As much as we have a comforting distance from Jack the Ripper, we also need to recognize the victims even more.

[Kristi Downs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Information was straight to the point and a great introduction about the topic, which I knew very little about. I appreciated the social commentary around the time and area as well. I'd recommend it to someone who would like to know more about the murders of Jack the Ripper but if you already have general knowledge, maybe skip this one.

[Essien Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scintillating read and suspense filled.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little hard to understand sometimes what the letters and newspapers said as there were lacking analysis’s and explanations from the author. It was interesting and informative, just a little mind boggling.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent source on all things Jack the Ripper with additional information on the Victorian era and life in 1880's London. Gripping details of the killings, victims and suspects organized in large picture book style. I didn't read anything new about the Ripper cases but the research regarding Whitechapel and life during this era is fascinating. Recommended for anyone interested in Victorian England and the Ripper cases.

[A.J. Griffiths-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book as an introduction to the murders of 'Jack the Ripper'. Outlines the cases in detail & gives great background on life in Victorian London. There are some great illustrations & lots of newspaper clippings that help to shed light on the backgrounds of each victim.